Discharge Lamp for Dielectrically Impeded Discharge with Rib-Like Supporting Elements Between The Bottom Plate and the Top Plate

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a discharge lamp with a floor plate and a roof plate, which is designed for dielectrically impeded discharge, with at least two electrodes of different polarity being allocated to the sections of the discharge space, which is divided by rib-like support elements, with the electrodes located at a distance from the longitudinal support elements.

Discharge lamp for dielectrically impeded discharges with rib-likesupporting elements between the bottom plate and the top plate

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a discharge lamp with a bottom plateand a top plate which is designed for dielectrically impeded discharges.

PRIOR ART

Discharge lamps in which so-called dielectrically impeded discharges aregenerated by a dielectric barrier between the electrodes or at least theanodes and the discharge medium have been known for a relatively longperiod of time. An important application case is in so-called flatlamps, whose discharge vessel is constructed from a bottom plate and atop plate or at least contains these two plates as essential parts inaddition to other parts such as, for example, a frame connecting them.Such flat lamps can be used in particular for backlighting monitors,display screens and other display devices, but are also suitable forgeneral lighting. The discharge vessel is flat, i.e. has a markedlysmaller extent in one dimension than in the other two dimensions.

In relation to the prior art, particular reference is made to the priorart by the Applicant DE 100 48 187.6, DE 100 48 186.8, DE 101 38 924.8and DE 101 38 925.6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Against the background of this prior art, the invention is based on thetechnical problem of specifying a new and improved construction for acorresponding discharge lamp.

In this regard, the invention relates to a discharge lamp with a bottomplate, a top plate for the light exit which is at least partiallytransparent, a discharge space between the bottom and the top plate foraccommodating a discharge medium, a set of electrodes for generatingdielectrically impeded discharges in the discharge medium, a dielectricbarrier between at least one part of the set of electrodes and thedischarge medium and at least one supporting element, which produces aconnection between the bottom plate and the top plate in order for themto support one another and is in the form of ribs with the bottom plateand the top plate bearing linearly against one another, the electrodesbeing in the form of strips and running in their main direction parallelto the rib-like supporting element, characterized in that in each caseat least two electrodes of different polarity are associated with eachof the parts of the discharge space which are separated by thesupporting element, and the electrodes are spaced apart in the region ofthe discharges from the linear bearing of the bottom plate and the topplate in the region of the supporting element.

In addition, the invention relates to a combination of the dischargelamp with an electronic ballast and to a display device, which containsa discharge lamp according to the invention for backlighting. Forexample, this may be a television screen or a computer monitor.

Preferred configurations are specified in the dependent claims and willbe explained in more detail below alongside the central concept of theinvention.

The term dielectrically impeded discharge or barrier discharge lamp inthe present invention relates to discharges which take place inmercury-free discharge media, in particular discharge media with asubstantial content of noble gas. Xenon and the radiation ofxenon-excimers is particularly important here.

According to the invention, the supporting elements, which areunavoidable in practically interesting formats, are provided in a linearrib-like formation between the bottom plate and the top plate of a flatlamp discharge vessel. In this case, the invention also includes thecase in which only a single such rib-like supporting element isprovided, but cases with a large number of supporting elements arepreferred.

Depending on the number of supporting elements, the discharge space issplit between the top plate and the bottom plate into channel-likeparts, which do not need to be separated from one another, however. Thesupporting elements therefore do not need to pass over the entirelength.

In contrast to the cited prior art, it is additionally provided that inthis case at least two electrodes of different polarity, i.e. at leastone cathode and at least one anode, are associated with the parts of thedischarge space which are separated by the supporting elements, andthese electrodes are spaced apart from the regions corresponding to thelinear bearing of the supporting elements. This spacing is at least inthe region of the discharges, i.e. at least at and between thedischarges, but not necessarily also in the region of the feed lines. Inthis case, the term “spaced apart” relates to the plane in which theelectrode strips lie. The term is therefore intended to betwo-dimensional in the projection in this plane. If the electrodes orpart of the electrodes lie outside of the discharge vessel, as is anywaypreferred in the context of this invention, the spacing which is broughtabout by the corresponding plate thickness between the electrodes andthe linear bearing is therefore not intended. Instead, the electrodesshould lie in the projection on the mentioned plane not beneath butadjacent to the linear bearing.

The term the linear bearing in this case moreover does not necessarilymean a line width corresponding to virtually zero. Instead, the width ofthe bearing should be markedly smaller than the length. However,relatively narrow bearing faces are much preferred.

In the cited prior art, although rib-like supporting elements havealready been mentioned, they were positioned on the electrode strips. Inother words, the electrode strips run partially beneath the supportingelements in order to be “blocked” by them. Individual dischargestructures should therefore be separated from one another.

In the present invention, however, as a deviation from this, a blockinginfluence of the supporting elements or of the discharge vessel walls atall on the discharge structure is not intended to be utilized, butinstead avoided. The electrodes are therefore intended to run spacedapart from them. In the case of outer electrodes, for example beneaththe bottom plate, the discharges within the discharge vessel attachapproximately at the point which is in each case closest to the outerelectrode. This point should then likewise be spaced apart from thebearing line.

It has been found that the supporting elements and regions of the top orbottom plate can be charged electrostatically and the interference-freeformation of discharges can be prevented. The inventors assume that thisis disadvantageous for an efficient and geometrically favorableformation of discharges. If necessary, the possibility for a“drawing-up” of the discharges along part of the electrode strip lengthsshould also be provided with the invention. This would be disrupted ifthe electrodes (with the explained projection into the plane of theelectrode strips) were to lie in the region of the linear bearingbetween the plates or between the plates and the supporting elements.

In addition, it is preferred for the supporting elements to be made froma transparent material, in particular from glass, in order to absorb aslittle of the light produced as possible.

As has already been mentioned in the cited prior art, the supportingelements can favorably be formed integrally as an integral part of thebottom plate or the top plate. For example, the top plate can have acorresponding wave structure, whose “troughs” reach down as supportingelements onto the bottom plate. For illustrative purposes, reference ismade to the exemplary embodiment.

Preferably, where the supporting elements come near to one of the platesand form the linear bearing, they form an angle in the range of 35° to55°, particularly preferably between 40° and 50°, with this plate. Suchangles have proven to be favorable in terms of the stability of thedischarge vessels produced, the light distribution, the spaces availablefor the discharge structures and the lamp thicknesses which are producedoverall.

The bottom plate or the top plate can be curved entirely or partially inannularly concave fashion between the supporting elements, with the term“concave” being from the perspective of the discharge vessel interior.For example, the top plate can have integrated supporting elements whichtouch the bottom plate at an angle of 45° in the form of V and produceentirely or partially rounded transitions between these V structures.

A favorable plate thickness for the discharge vessel walls, inparticular the top plate and the bottom plate, is in the range ofbetween 0.8 and 1.1 mm, inclusive, particularly preferably between 0.9and 1.0 mm, inclusive.

The bearing of the supporting elements against one of the plates whichhas already been mentioned a number of times does not necessarily needto be bearing in the sense of there being no fixed connection. Thesupporting elements can be adhesively bonded or attached in some otherway. However, a purely bearing arrangement without any further adhesivebonding or else sealing is actually preferred. This can be producedparticularly simply and does not introduce any further contaminationsinto the discharge space as a result of no additional materials beingused.

It has already been mentioned that the electrodes are preferablyprovided outside of the discharge vessel. They can be positioned, forexample, on a foil so as to bear against one of the plates, inparticular be adhesively bonded to it. This foil can have a copper layerwhich is structured by means of etching techniques and which is used toform the electrodes. Outer electrodes provide a particularly simple,reliable and fault-free embodiment of the dielectric required betweenthe electrodes and the discharge medium and are particularly favorablein terms of production technology and also inexpensive.

In addition, it is preferably provided that the electrodes can be drivenin groups, i.e. can be operated with different operating parameters fromone another or else can be operated entirely independently of oneanother. In this case, the groups can each comprise a plurality of pairsof electrodes, but also they may comprise a single pair of electrodes.Preferably, the splitting of the groups is matched to the splitting ofthe electrodes between the discharge space parts between the supportingelements. In particular, the groups can in each case correspond to theelectrodes in such a discharge space part. Groupwise operation can beused, for example, for row-like or more generally linear switching, inwhich certain groups are operated at a lighter or darker level than theremaining groups. More details are given in this regard below.

A further aspect of the invention relates to a discharge lamp, in which,in addition, the anodes and the cathodes are labeled as such and areconfigured such that they can be distinguished from one another, and thecathodes and the anodes, when viewed from peripheral regions, in eachcase occur in pairs, i.e. each anode is adjacent to an anode and acathode and each cathode is adjacent to a cathode and an anode. Thebasic idea in this case consists in both the cathodes and the anodesbeing provided in pairs. Thus, each anode should have a cathodeadjoining it on one side and a further anode adjoining it on the otherand, conversely, each cathode should have an anode adjoining it on oneside and a further cathode adjoining it on the other. Peripheral regionsare naturally not affected by this as well since a peripheral electrodenaturally has nothing next to it on one side.

Discharge lamps in which the anodes and cathodes cannot be distinguishedfrom one another also fall under this aspect of the invention since theyare combined with a ballast designed for unipolar operation.

The inventors have established that, as a result of such an electrodestructure, the discharge structures can be “drawn up” along the striplengths of the electrodes more easily to form longer dischargestructures, primarily at high powers, and the discharge operationbetween respectively most closely adjacent anodes and cathodes ismoreover barely influenced by the discharge operation between otheranodes and cathodes. This is not the case with strip-shaped electrodestructures with alternating cathodes and anodes previously known in theprior art. In this case, discharge structures end on the same electrodeson different sides and can interact with one another, i.e. can thereforealso be mutually disruptive. This relates in particular to theabovementioned “drawing-up” of the discharge structures, which, in thecontext of the present invention, is even possible over the entireelectrode length. In addition, the double electrodes allow theindividual discharge structures to have a denser sequence along theelectrode strips and therefore overall allow for a surprisingly densetotal discharge distribution when the distance between electrodes of thesame polarity within a pair is not too great.

In the prior art WO 98/43276, which has already proposed double anodestrips, the cathodes are also common, i.e. singular, and this is alsovery desirable for reasons of saving space and the homogenization of theluminance distribution. This document only provides electrode strips inpairs only for those lamps which are designed for bipolar operation andtherefore do not distinguish between cathodes and anodes. However, thepresent invention relates to lamps that are designed especially forunipolar operation and make it possible to distinguish between thecathodes and anodes. This can be the case, for example, as a result ofthe fact that the anodes, but not the cathodes, are dielectricallyseparated from the discharge medium. It can also be provided by virtueof the fact that the cathodes have projections for fixing dischargestructures which the anodes do not have or which are less pronounced inthe case of the anodes, which is preferred in the present case and whichis described in more detail below.

The electrode structure according to the invention also allows for afavorable assignment of electrode pairs to discharge vessel parts, inparticular those separated by the supporting elements. Finally, itallows for favorable interconnections, in the case of which theelectrodes are driven separately in groups, it being possible for thegroups to comprise a respective plurality of pairs or else individualpairs.

The abovementioned more pronounced projections for the localization ofindividual discharge structures can be tab-like projections transversewith respect to the main strip direction of the electrodes, as shown inthe exemplary embodiment. They are preferably more pronounced, i.e. morepointed or more localized in another way in the case of the cathodesthan in the case of the anodes, if the anodes have comparable structuresat all. In the case of the anodes, actual “tabs” are less preferred thanslight waves or saw-tooth shapes, which slightly modulate the dischargespacing along the strip length and typically produce minimum dischargespacings in the region of the “cathode tabs”, also as a result of aslight tapering of the anodes towards the cathodes. From there, thedischarge structures can “draw up” towards the sides at high powers andtherefore also fill regions with relatively large discharge spacings.

The projections for localizing individual discharge structures can alsobe distributed in heterogeneous densities, for example can be slightlydenser in peripheral regions than in central regions, in order tocounteract dimmed portions at the periphery.

In the case of the cathode pairs according to the invention, it ismoreover preferred for the projections to alternate along the stripdirection, i.e. in the direction of the strip for a projection pointingtowards the right of the right-hand cathode to be followed by aprojection pointing towards the left of the left-hand cathode, and viceversa, with the result that the discharge structures localized towardsboth sides are positioned alternately.

It is additionally preferred that the inner pair spacings are smallerthan the spacings between the most closely adjacent electrodes ofdifferent polarity, with the result that the total arrangement ofindividual discharge structures to a certain extent remains dense andthere are no excessively large strips which are unused.

Finally, the minimum discharge spacings between the electrodes arepreferably at least 10 mm large. The basic idea in this case consists inusing particularly large discharge spacings or “clearances”, as adeviation from the relevant prior art. Quite surprisingly it has beenfound that unusually good efficiencies can be achieved given dischargespacings of over 10 mm, particularly preferably even over 11, 12 or inthe most favorable case over 13 mm, with these efficiencies beingcapable of being two-digit percentage values above comparable electrodestructures with smaller discharge spacings.

The improvements thus achieved are so noticeable that they justify theincreased requirements as regards the technology for the ballast whichresult from the higher operating voltages required.

It has even surprisingly been found that, despite the size of the gapsbetween the discharge structures which also correlates with thedischarge spacing in any case in the event of individual dischargestructures and prior to total “drawing-up” along the electrode strips, avery high degree of total homogeneity can nevertheless be achieved. Thisis true in particular in conjunction with the mentioned double electrodepairs which, as mentioned, allow for a relatively dense arrangement ofthe discharge locations along the electrode strips.

Conventional discharge spacings in lamps for dielectrically impededdischarges were typically in the region of 4 or 5 mm. Until now it hasbeen assumed that excessively large discharge spacings in any caseresult in unnecessary losses in terms of the ballast and shouldtherefore be avoided.

A further configuration of the invention is directed at a display devicewith a locally controllable brightness filter as the display screen anda discharge lamp configured as described above for backlighting, inwhich the set of electrodes is split into locally separate groups, whichcan be driven separately from one another the brightness filter havinglinearly driven pixels, and the electrode groups forming strips whichare linearly parallel to the pixels, the display device being designedto operate the electrode groups synchronously with the driving of thepixels for reinputting brightness image information into thecorresponding lines at a lighter level than in the remaining operationalphases.

The basic concept of this configuration consists in combining thegroupwise splitting of the set of electrodes of the discharge lamp knownper se with the lamp's application for backlighting a display screenand, during operation, matching it to the driving of the pixels ofcertain image lines of the display screen. This driving of the pixels ismeant to mean the inputting of actual figurative light/dark informationwhich results in the figures and contours displayed. If, synchronouslytherewith, that/those electrode group(s) which backlight(s) thecorresponding line region is/are operated at a higher brightness levelthan the remaining electrode groups, to a certain extent an arbitrarilyintroduced line interlacing method can be produced. In this case, thedisplay screen lines with the new image information appear to bebrighter than the remaining ones, with the term “brighter” alsoincluding the remaining electrode groups being switched to dark.

The advantage consists in the fact that, in this way, a sharper imageperception is produced in the human eye in the case of rapidly movingimage information, i.e. in the case of figurative patterns which moverapidly on the display screen. Typical display screens in the sense ofbrightness filters, i.e. in particular liquid crystal displays, have alimited response time and can therefore only be operated at a limitedrate when the new image information is input. In the case of rapidrepresented movements, this results in the moving figure having moved onby a considerable amount between the individual reinputting operationswith which a new image is produced. If the preceding representation ofthis figure practically has an afterglow in the time, which correspondsto the image refresh rate, before the reinputting of image information,the eye is to a certain extent provided with a rearward movement in thesense of a sequence of standstills lasting for certain times withmovement jumps in between. Such representations are perceived by thehuman eye as a movement of a blurred figure.

If, instead, a moving point, for example, is displayed by the displaydevice according to the invention, this tends to mean a shortillumination of the corresponding image information, whereupon thisimage information becomes either darker or totally dark, until thispoint briefly reappears (lighter) when information is reinput at the newlocation. Such a representation is perceived by the human eye as amovement of a point with a sharp or relatively sharp contour if theimage refresh rate is sufficiently high and therefore interpolates theeye. These fundamental relationships are known per se as so-called“scanning backlights”.

In the case of display devices, in particular flat screens withparticularly flat barrier lamps for backlighting, this inventionproposes making use of the fundamentally favorable possibilities of suchbarrier lamps for groupwise interconnection and therefore using arelatively large lamp (or a few relatively large lamps) to implement ascanning backlight technology which does not require a large number ofrelatively small lamps or even conventional electrode beam technology.

Preferably, in each case an overlap is provided between the respectivebright operational phases, i.e. the electrode groups whose brightoperation phases follow one another temporally are switchedsimultaneously to be light for a certain time span which is shorter thanthe length of the bright operational phase. For explanatory purposes,reference is made to the exemplary embodiment.

It is also preferred to synchronize the operation of the electrodegroups in the case of a pulsed operation method which is neverthelessvery advantageous for barrier discharge lamps and is known from therelevant prior art and in which the actual lamp operation is operated ata pulse frequency of the order of magnitude of two-digit kilohertzvalues or above. That is to say that if, between adjacent electrodegroups which run through their bright operational phases temporallysuccessively even in the most important applications, states occur, as aresult of the mentioned overlap or for other reasons, in which suchadjacent electrode groups are simultaneously connected to the output ofa ballast, it could otherwise result in flashovers, in particular alsobetween electrodes with the same name, in the event of a lack ofsynchronization. If, however, there is synchronization, the voltagepulses are simultaneous and therefore no particular difficulties result.

Synchronization is also useful between electrode groups which are in onebright operational phase and adjacent electrode groups which areswitched to be darker since in this case at least the magnitude of therelative voltages is substantially lower. Electrode groups which areswitched to be very dark must not cause any problems here since they canbe switched off on the supply side and therefore DC-isolated or switchedat a high resistance.

The option of allowing the electrode groups which are not located in thebright operational phase to be very dark and therefore of virtuallyswitching them off forms a particular advantage of the invention. Infact, discharge lamps which are operated, for example, withmercury-containing plasma can barely be used in an operating modeassociated with continuously successive restarting operations.

In accordance with a further configuration of the invention, thesplitting into separately operable groups can be taken further still toform units which are referred to here as electrode subgroups. Theseunits are intended to be assigned dyes of different colors, preferablythree or more, with the result that, in the case of the respectivepulse-like backlighting of a display screen region with pixels whichhave just been redescribed with image information, a sequential sequenceof differently colored backlighting pulses is produced. A colorrepresentation without the use of the actually conventional andhigh-loss color filters and without the loss of the resolution of thebrightness filter, in particular liquid crystal display, can thereforetake place.

In addition, matching to image contents, i.e. their brightness values incertain parts of the image, can also take place. Thus, for example, inthe case of an image with a light sky over a dark lower image region,the electrode groups in the upper region can be operated at a higherpower than in the lower region.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference toan exemplary embodiment with different variants.

The features disclosed herein can also be essential to the invention inother combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematized plan view of a barrier discharge lampaccording to the invention with a sectional view, shown to the rightthereof, of part of the discharge lamp.

FIG. 2 shows a detail of a sectional illustration of the discharge lampfrom FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows at the top right a plan view of an exemplary electrodestructure for a discharge lamp according to the invention with furtherdetail illustrations.

FIG. 4 shows a variant of the plan view illustrated in FIG. 3 of anexemplary electrode structure for a discharge lamp according to theinvention with further detail illustrations.

FIG. 5 shows schematized timing diagrams for the operation, withgroupwise switching, of a discharge lamp according to the invention withan electrode structure as shown in FIG. 3.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a discharge vessel of a barrier dischargelamp 1 according to the invention. Next to it on the right is a crosssection through a top plate of the discharge vessel, as sectionalillustration C-C. FIG. 2 shows, in the same viewing direction andsectional plane, a detail of the discharge vessel, but with the bottomplate and the electrode structure together. It can be seen that the flatlamp discharge vessel substantially comprises a rib-like top plate 2 anda substantially flat bottom plate 3, the top plate 2 having V-shapedribs as supporting elements at 45° relative to the bottom plate 3, whichsupporting elements are denoted by the numeral 4 at the point at whichthey bear linearly on the bottom plate 3. The top plate 2 runs annularlyconcavely between these rib-like supporting elements 4, i.e.approximately circularly over the discharge space.

An electrode film 5 with copper electrodes 6 provided therein isprovided beneath the bottom plate 3, with the result that the bottomplate 3 acts as a dielectric barrier between the electrodes 6 and thedischarge space. The electrode film is a PEN or PET substrate materialwith a thickness of 50-100 μm and a copper layer attached by adhesivebonding of approximately 15-45 μm, which is structured by an etchingmethod. The film is also adhesively bonded onto the bottom plate alsowith an acrylic adhesive of 50-100 μm. FIG. 2 shows an arcuateindividual discharge 7 between the two electrodes 6 shown therein.

The supporting element spacing used here between the linear bearingfaces 4 is 22.9 mm. The top plate 2 and the bottom plate 3 each have athickness of 0.9 mm given a length of 322 mm and a width of 246 mm and atotal thickness of the discharge lamp 1 of 6.7 mm. This is a 16.2″ lamp.The bottom plate 3 is coated on its upper side with a reflector layer(not illustrated) of Al₂O₃ for the reflection of the visible light, onwhich reflector layer, as well as on the underside of the top plate 2, aphosphor layer (likewise not illustrated) is positioned. The supportingelements 4 rest on the bottom of the discharge vessel coated in thisway, and a gas-tight joint by means of glass solder is provided only onthe outer lamp periphery. The fill comprises 110 mbar of Xe and 250 mbarof Ne coldfilling pressure.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show exemplary electrode structures for dischargelamps of this type. At the top right, in each case plan views of thetotal electrode structure are illustrated, while the remainingillustrations represent the details from the electrode structures whichare denoted by the letters A-E.

In this case, the cathodes are each denoted by 6 a and the anodes by 6b, the cathodes 6 a having the tab-like projections already known fromthe prior art for fixing individual discharge structures. Theseprojections are visibly slightly more dense at the peripheries of thestrips in order to counteract dimmed portions at the periphery.

It can be seen in FIG. 3 that the electrode strips 6 a and 6 b, apartfrom the peripheral regions acting as the power supply means, areconfigured so as to be straight and parallel and in each case formpairs. In FIG. 4, the electrode strips are slightly curved, to beprecise the anode strips 6 b are also curved although they do not haveany of the abovementioned tabs.

The variant in FIG. 4 corresponds to the format of the discharge lamp 1from FIG. 1, while the variant in FIG. 3 is larger, namely a 32″ lampwith a length of 722 mm and a width of 422 mm given a total thickness of6.7 mm. For reasons of stability, the top plate is in this case 1.0 mmthick. The rib spacing remains identical. In both cases, the sameelectrode spacings of 13.7 mm are also present, with these being meanelectrode spacings. The electrode widths are in each case 1.45 mm.

Furthermore, the electrode structure in FIG. 3 is split into in totalsix anode groups and six cathode groups, this resulting in in total sixparallel electrode groups which follow from top to bottom, can beoperated separately and therefore correspond to switchable light strips.Corresponding splitting into electrode groups is not illustrated in thevariant in FIG. 4, but, as can easily be seen, can be readilyimplemented.

With lamps of this type, luminances of 13500 cd/m² and 7000 cd/m² havebeen achieved given system powers (including the ballast) of, forexample, 80 W in the case of the 16.2″ lamp and 193 W in the case of the32″ lamp, respectively, which corresponds to efficiencies of 11.7 cd/Wand 10.2 cd/W, respectively. The color loci were located at x=0.312 andy=0.327 and, respectively, x=0.297 and y=0.293, a three-band phosphorwith the blue component BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇. Eu²⁺, the green component LaPO₄:(Tb³⁺, Ce³⁺) and the red component (Y,Gd)BO₃:Eu³⁺ having been used.

In this regard, a two-stage electronic ballast with a first step-upconverter stage and an intermediate circuit voltage of between 80 and100 V and a second unipolar power stage in accordance with the flybackconverter principle for pulsed supply has been used.

Other supporting point spacings of between 15 and 40 mm or more andother electrode spacings of up to in the region of 30 mm or more arenaturally also possible.

The increase in efficiency in comparison with comparable lamps with adischarge spacing of approximately 4.5 mm was of the order of magnitudeof up to 40%. A further enlargement to a discharge spacing of 15.7 mmresulted in an increase in efficiency of even up to 50% or more. Inprinciple, in this case the supporting point spacings need to bematched. In particular, the spacing between the electrodes and theadjacent “ribs”, i.e. the bearing lines denoted by reference symbol 4 inFIG. 2, should be 1 mm, preferably 2 mm and further preferably 3 mm ormore at least in the case of the anodes, preferably in the case of allof the electrodes.

Different possible fill compositions are, for example, 130 mbar of Xeand 230 mbar of Ne or 90 mbar of Xe and 270 mbar of Ne.

In addition to the gain in efficiency, the discharge vessel shape hasthe advantage that the surface contacts of the discharges with the topplate 2 are reduced in comparison with knob-like supporting elementsknown from the prior art. This can be seen in a gain in efficiency andin increased running stability. The ribbed top plates 2 can be producedmore easily and more cost-effectively, result in fewer tool costs, andsimplify the coating process for the phosphor coating of the top plate2.

The loss of stability of which there is actually a risk as a result ofthe shape with one-dimensional ribs is kept within limits despite therelatively small plate thicknesses. With the given data, no particulardifficulties were observed.

In addition to the separate operability and the clear assignment to thedischarge space parts which are separated by the rib-like supportingelements 4, the pairwise electrode structure also has the advantage thateach individual electrode strip only “has” discharges on in each caseone side. The discharges therefore impede one another to a lesserextent, can be packed more densely along the strip direction and also“draw up” better along the strip length in particular in the case ofmarkedly increased powers. Despite the tab projections, this takes placeto such an extent that discharge structures extending along the entirestrip length are possible. The tabs therefore only define the attachmentlocations of the individual discharges at relatively low powers andfacilitate the starting operation.

FIG. 5 shows an operating method which has been made possible by theelectrode structure shown in FIG. 3 which has been split groupwise andalso by a variant of the electrode structure shown in FIG. 4 which hasbeen correspondingly split groupwise, using schematic timing diagrams.First, in the lower region FIG. 5 illustrates that the rectangular areaassumed by the electrode structure shown in FIG. 3, in accordance withthe explanations which have already been given in the descriptionrelating to FIG. 3, corresponds to six separately operable light stripsS1-S6. The upper region of FIG. 5 shows a very schematized illustrationof the intensity profile over time for these six strips during a periodT. In this case, the references I₁-I₆ on the vertical axis represent theintensity emitted by the individual groups, while the horizontal axisrepresents the time.

It can be seen that, at the beginning the period T, for a pulse durationof t, a markedly increased intensity is generated in the group or thelight strip S1, while the group S1 only generates an intensity which isapproximately 30% of this value during the remaining time. Correspondingbright operational phases of the duration t are provided for all of theother groups S2-S6, to be precise in each case temporally offset suchthat there is a temporal overlap of the bright operational phases of t/3between the groups, and the bright operational phase of group S6 by t/3after the end of the period duration T, i.e. again overlapping with thenext bright operational phase of group S1.

Thus, light strips run sequentially from top to bottom over the screenand, in this example, in each case overlap one another by a third oftheir illumination time t, the remaining regions which are not detectedat that time by the bright strip being operated at a lower intensity.

For example, the period T could be 20 ms, while the individual brightoperational phase duration t is approximately 5 ms. In one variant, theoverlap could be dispensed with, in which case t would be 3.3 ms. Inanother variant, for which the barrier discharge lamps are particularlywell suited, the intensity outside of the bright operational phasescould be 0, i.e. the electrode groups which are not located in thebright operational phase at that time would be completely switched off.

1. A discharge lamp with a bottom plate, a top plate for the light exitwhich is at least partially transparent, a discharge space between thebottom and the top plate for accommodating a discharge medium, a set ofelectrodes for generating dielectrically impeded discharges in thedischarge medium, a dielectric barrier between at least one part of theset of electrodes and the discharge medium and at least one supportingelement, which produces a connection between the bottom plate and thetop plate in order for them to support one another and is in the form ofribs with the bottom plate and the top plate bearing linearly againstone another, the electrodes being in the form of strips and running intheir main direction parallel to the rib-like supporting element,characterized in that in each case at least two electrodes of differentpolarity are associated with each of the parts of the discharge spacewhich are separated by the supporting element, and the electrodes beingspaced apart in the region of the discharges from the linear bearing ofthe bottom plate and the top plate in the region of the supportingelement.
 2. The discharge lamp as claimed in claim 1, in which a largenumber of rib-like supporting elements are provided which run parallelto one another, in each case at least two electrodes of differentpolarity being associated with each of the parts of the discharge spacewhich are separated by the supporting elements.
 3. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the supporting element(s) is/areformed from a transparent material.
 4. The discharge lamp as claimed inclaim 1, in which the supporting element(s) is/are formed integrally inone of the bottom plate and the top plate.
 5. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 4, in which the supporting element(s) form(s) an angleof between 35° and 55° with the respective other of the bottom plate andthe top plate.
 6. The discharge lamp as claimed in claim 1, in which oneof the bottom plate and the top plate is curved in annularly concavefashion between the supporting elements.
 7. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 1, in which the top plate and the bottom plate have athickness of between 0.8 and 1.1 mm.
 8. The discharge lamp as claimed inclaim 1, in which the supporting element(s) only bear(s) against therespective other of the top plate and the bottom plate.
 9. The dischargelamp as claimed in claim 1, in which the electrodes are provided outsideof a discharge vessel having the bottom plate and the top plate.
 10. Thedischarge lamp as claimed in claim 1, in which the electrodes arecapable of being driven in groups.
 11. The discharge lamp as claimed inclaim 1, in which the anodes and cathodes are labeled as such and can bedistinguished from one another, and at least the anodes are separatedfrom the discharge medium by the dielectric barrier, the cathodes andthe anodes, apart from the peripheral regions, occurring in each case inpairs, i.e. each anode is adjacent to an anode and a cathode and eachcathode is adjacent to a cathode and an anode.
 12. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 11, in which the electrodes have cathodes which, incomparison with the remaining anodes, have more pronounced projectionsfor the localization of individual discharge structures.
 13. Thedischarge lamp as claimed in claim 12, in which the projections aredenser in the peripheral regions than in the central region.
 14. Thedischarge lamp as claimed in claim 12 or 13, in which the projections ofa pair of cathodes alternate along the strip direction.
 15. Thedischarge lamp as claimed in claim 11, in which the spacing between theelectrodes of a pair is smaller than the interval between most closelyadjacent electrodes of different polarity.
 16. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 1, in which the minimum discharge spacings between theanodes and cathodes are at least 10 mm.
 17. The discharge lamp asclaimed in claim 1 combined with an electronic ballast for unipolaroperation of the discharge lamp.
 18. A display device with a dischargelamp as claimed in claim 1 which is used for backlighting the displaydevice.
 19. A display device with a locally controllable brightnessfilter as the display screen and a discharge lamp as claimed in claim10, for backlighting, the brightness filter having linearly drivenpixels, and the electrode groups forming strips parallel to the pixellines, characterized in that the display device is designed to operatethe electrode groups synchronously with the driving of the pixels forthe purpose of reinputting brightness image information into thecorresponding lines at a lighter level than in the remaining operationalphases.
 20. The display device as claimed in claim 19, in whichsuccessive operational phases of lighter operation of the electrodegroups have a temporal overlap with one another.
 21. The display deviceas claimed in claim 19 or 20, in which the discharge lamp is operatedusing a pulsed method and the corresponding pulsed operation of theelectrode groups is synchronized with respect to one another.
 22. Thedisplay device as claimed in claim 19, in which the electrode groupsremain switched off outside the operational phases with the lighteroperation.
 23. The display device as claimed in claim 19, with anelectronic ballast for supplying the discharge lamp, which ballast has adedicated output stage for each electrode group.
 24. The display deviceas claimed in claim 19, in which each electrode group to be operatedsynchronously with the driving of pixels when reinputting brightnessimage information is split into at least two electrode subgroups, whichcan in turn be operated separately, the discharge lamp having adedicated associated phosphor layer with a color deviating from thecolor(s) of the respective other electrode subgroup(s) for each of theelectrode subgroups, with the result that, by means of a temporallysequential operation of the electrode subgroups, the associated pixelscan be backlit temporally sequentially with different colors.